Thursday, September 15, 2011

Roasted Tomato-Tomatillo Soup

Fall weather is almost here!!! I am loving the cooler temps, and I can see the leaves changing colors. Along with the changing seasons, my garden is going into full-blown harvest time.

This is maybe a third of what I could have picked today.....and I only picked tomatoes and tomatillos...I passed over: zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, beets, and cabbage. I only picked what I wanted to use in dinner that night.

I decided to make a big batch of soup. Why??? Well, it's not summer anymore, it freezes well, and it gave me a chance to use up some of this freshness.

This soup is so easy to put together, and although it takes time {because we're developing flavors}, it's the kind of time where you don't have to watch it.

First off, grab some tomatoes & tomatillos. Mine filled up two sheet trays. I don't know how many pounds, but I guess I could count up how many tomato halves there are........36 Roma Tomatoes and.......I don't know, let's say 20-30 Tomatillos {that's a good number}

Place everything on the cookie sheets; sprinkle with EVOO & salt & Pepper. See easy. Roast in a 450 degree oven for an hour. This is what they'll most likely look like:

Charred {in some places} and all sorts of yummy. Excuse the peppers....they're for another recipe & I figured since I was getting the oven hot, I might as well roast some up.

Take all the roasted veggies and throw them in the blender. I did this twice. Puree everything up.

And stick it in a pot. I love this dutch oven.....I just thought I would let you know ;)

Now, for some flavoring, because right now it tastes like spaghettios. I grabbed some of my fresh basil from the garden, julienned it up, and added it into the pot.

Next, I decided to go crazy, and wanted to give it some heat. So in went 1/2 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper flakes. You can totally leave this out, or lessen, or even increase....do as you desire :)

And then I added 1 tsp of garlic powder. I didn't have any fresh garlic, or else I would have roasted a couple of cloves to throw in.

Stir everything together and stick it on the stove, on low heat, for at least an hour {stirring occasionally}. We want the flavors to develop and infuse into the tomatoes.

Here is the finished product:

All sorts of yummy and delicious.

Want to make it even better???

Add some freshly made focaccia bread to dip into.

My kids had fun dipping into their soups. I think Madi had too much fun though....she had soup everywhere {thank goodness for bibs!}